Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, A Past Retold
by Kurosaki Irino
Summary: Edge is destroyed by a mysterious dark force, two years after the event of the original Advent Children movie. Two years later, a new city, Second, is build, to once again gather the lives and hopes of the human race. The infectious disease Geostigma, however, makes its way back into the human clan, and the only way to end this calamity is through a woman called Eve.
1. Chapter 1

**PART I:**

**" Don't Wait For Me. Wait For My Soul, Because I Don't Think My Body Will. "**

"_No_!"

The invasion was a failure. The rebels have retaliated. They never knew the rebels would dare do such a thing. The very least they could manage were throwing stones and insults at the soldiers, and that was the only kind of physical and mental attack that they could work up on their nerves.

But now. _Now _was a different story.

"Maria!" she cried, clutching onto the bloodied body of a woman, who was faintly gasping in pain. "No, no, _Maria_! Who... who did this to you.. _Who did this to you_?!"

The fatally injured young redhead panted, winced in pain, closed her eyes. She breathed through her nose; her breathing came out ragged, forced. She was almost at her limit.

"E... _Eve_..."

The young blonde woman forced back her tears, leaned in closer to the moving lips of her best friend. Listening to her words.

"The key... your... memo-"

_Boom_.

The ground shook again, this time with chunks of wet flesh and blood flying all over the area. Everybody was running around and screaming.

"The key? What... what _key_? What are you talking about? Maria-"

"The key.. they sealed _it_, it's with the key... the _key_..."

Silence followed. Only the sounds of people screaming and explosions were heard. Tension rose in the air around her environment.

_What was she talking about_? _What it_...?

"_It's_... _important_... to you... Please... _Please_, Eve, promise... _promise me_..."

She leant in closer; Maria pulled her down so she could whisper to her ear.

"Return... your home... is _there_... no matter what, you _have _to return... Go _back_... _home_..."

Her voice was getting fainter and fainter by every breath she took; yet she struggled with the pocket of her cardigan, fished out a rusted, bronze key, and gave it to her. Her last gift.

"Return... with this key... _find _your answer... _find _it, before it's... too late..."

Her breath became shallower now; she was hardly breathing, as if she had forced the air out of her lungs.

"And... promise me... something else..."

She listened attentively now.

"_Maria_...?"

"Alicia... my baby... my _sweetheart_... please..."

Her shaking finger pointed to a rubble that had formed a small tent-hole protruding from the ground. They could hear the faint cry of a baby from inside.

"Save... _save _her... _please_... for _me_..."

Her whole arm was shaking now; she was hardly breathing. Eve wiped a tear sliding down her cheek, and nodded.

The dying redhead smiled weakly.

"You're... always... my best... best friend... _Eve_..."

Her arm dropped to the ground, limp, motionless.

She never moved again.

Eve let out a wailing scream.

"_**NO**_!"

"_Huh_? A-are you awake? Hello? Miss... _Miss_?!"

She opened her eyes.

"Are you alright, Miss? Miss... Uhh... Tifa! _Tifa_!"

A young girl's voice. Much different from what she had heard. Possibly her illusion. Or a dream made to fool her, again.

She heard a door being swung open, closed with a thud. She heard the shuffling of footsteps. She heard another female's voice - an adult woman, from a distant place. Probably downstairs, because she heard it from under her pillow.

"-_awake_? You didn't-"

"_Here_..."

A set of footsteps that seemed to be climbing up some stairs, shuffling of footsteps again. Door swung open, then slammed shut. A dark-haired woman came into her view with a worried look on her face.

"Are you okay?"

Her voice sounded loud, shallow, deep in her ears, as if she was speaking from another end of a tunnel. Her vision was blurry. The face was hazy to her eyes.

"Alicia... _where_?"

She didn't hear the sound of a baby crying; the one she had grown fond of, accustomed to, since a year before. She was worried, worried about her safety. _Was she alright_?

"Alicia- You mean, _the baby_? Uh... Marlene, can you bring her in... No, no, don't wake her up yet, just bring her in..."

She heard the soft cooes. She heard a small bundle of figure being transferred from arm to arm. She felt a presence near her face. She sniffed.

She knew that smell.

"Give... give her to me..."

The woman obliged, and the small, sleeping bundle was transferred again. Eve held the little baby close to her chest, while she was still laid on a foreign bed. She kissed the baby's forehead; the young child mewled in her sleep, sucked on her thumb. She seemed so peaceful in her own dream.

Eve smiled, feeling a kind of serenity she only felt when Alicia was around.

"She's cute."

Whipping her head to the person who had made that comment, she saw a little girl standing at the doorway, smiling, looking unafraid.

"She never cried while we took care of her. She's a good girl, that Alicia."

Eve nodded, acknowledged the fact.

The woman sat beside her on the bed; she felt bedsprings creaking under her as the weight doubled. She twitched, just slightly.

"You have Geostigma."

She winced. Quickly putting a hand over a small area on her left hip. The woman grimaced.

"You need to be cured. Come with us, we'll help."

Eve swallowed. She couldn't. Not now.

"I'm sorry."

Both females in the room shot her looks. She winced again.

"_I can't_."

They shot her looks again; this time, disapproval.

"The disease will spread. You need to cure it. It strengthens over time and you won't even know when you'll die."

Eve shook her head. No, not this time.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, mostly to herself than to them. "It's not the time. Not... not _now_."

She tried to crawl herself out of the bed. A shot of pain coursed through her whole body, and she cried. Alicia was still in her arms.

The older woman quickly fumbled over and put Eve to bed again, quickly covering her with a quilt.

"Rest." Her tone was commanding, pleading even. "You're still hurt. You need rest. Go to sleep. I'll take care of... of _Alicia_, for you."

Her arms went slack when the woman took Alicia away from her. She obliged however; as her head felt so heavy, all she needed now was sleep.

"Thank you..."

She muttered softly, before her eyes drifted shut; she didn't stir afterwards.

**xxx**

"You did the right thing, Cloud."

They were watching Yuffie and Marlene playing with Alicia around the bar; they bounced the baby and she giggled happily, excited that she had playmates at last. They tickled her feet and she squealed.

Cloud's face was as stony as ever.

"They would've hurt her if you didn't come. She saved Denzel, too. Debts paid."

They had rebuild the Seventh Heaven bar again, this time in a growing town called Second. Edge was destroyed so badly, people hardly had places to live.

The disease came back, too. Worse situations were doubled.

It seemed as if the world couldn't still bless them.

"Things are not so bad after all," Tifa smiled, wiping the counter with a clean cloth. "She doesn't seem like she has anywhere to live. She could help with the deliveries, too. We could even employ-"

"No."

She stopped wiping, wide-eyed. "What..."

"We can't hire her. We can't let her live here. No. I won't allow it."

Tifa was immensely surprised. "Cloud! She _saved _Denzel!"

"All the same. I don't trust her."

Silence followed.

Alicia was squealing again; Yuffie had probably tickled her foot with a feather, and now the three of them were laughing heartily.

Tifa reached out to touch Cloud's shoulder.

"Don't be like this. I have a feeling... we could trust her, I know."

He swiped her hand.

"I'm not buying it," he snapped, standing up and taking up a box for a delivery for that day. "After soo much of what she did to everyone, I'm not buying it." He paused, stopping at the open door. "I'm going. Don't wait for me."

He left without another word, or so much as a goodbye. Tifa sighed.

Alicia squealed again and she averted her attention to the girls, smiling.

She didn't know what to do anymore.

**xxx**

He was picking up a few rusted metals.

Edge had been destroyed, and it was almost two years since the new city had been rebuilt.

He wanted to find a memento his friends had left for him before they left for Second.

But they sky was so dark, he wondered if it would rain today.

"Now, where could it be..."

He dug through a pile of metallic rubble, pushed past a few debris and pieces of clothing. He pulled out a metal plank, dropped it, but found nothing beneath it.

He sighed.

It was then he heard a faint growl.

He turned around, saw the shadow of a humanoid beast perching atop a high metal pillar. It seemed like a cross between a gigantic eagle and a bat for a head... but it was standing, and the bat-like wings on its back flapped and unflapped for a few seconds, before its golden eyes found their way to where he stood.

It growled again, and his eyes widened.

"No..."

He immediately broke into a run.

And, unfortunately for him, the beast followed him, too. Tagged along, jumping from place to place, still following him. Growling all the time, howling at some point.

He was shaking as he ran and ran and ran.

His mind was blank, and he forgot the way to go back home.

He whipped his head behind to see the beast tailing behind. It was so close.

_Trip_.

He fell on his face, scratched his cheek on the stony ground. His hands bled, his arms bruised blue from the impact. He grimaced a little from the pain, but soon paid no heed to it.

He felt a shadow upon him, and turned around to see a set of teeth - very sharp teeth - right in front of his face.

He felt his throat tightened, his muscles hardened; he could neither scream nor run.

"_No_..."

He waited for the teeth to sink into his flesh, feel his blood drip, drop by drop, from the caused gash, waiting for death to come over him.

For a split moment, he _really _thought he was going to die.

He imagined his father, his mother, both who died from an explosion in Sector 7, both who loved him dearly and wanted the best for him, both who wanted him to be safe, both who-

...

Was that the sound of an engine?

_Zupp_.

...Wait. It's-

_Bang_,_ bang_. _Bang_.

...Huh?

He slowly lifted his head from under his arms, the perfect shelter for his fears. He slowly looked up, still shaking from fear.

He saw an extended arm holding something like a gun. And that gun was pointing to the now writhing humanoid beast, which was grunting and bleeding something thick and dark. One of its wings was disengaged, torn from its body.

He turned around, whipped his body three hundred and sixty degrees to see the full view of a finely-sculpted young woman, black goggles over her eyes and her long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. Sleeveless shirt with wide collar, black shorts. Something strapped to her right thigh. A pair of fingerless black gloves, the right one longer than the other.

He spotted a motor vehicle, one that looked almost like Cloud's Fenrir; but colored silver with gray runes painted all over. Each front and back wheels were doubled, just like Cloud's.

He wondered if she was a friend of Cloud's.

"Stay back."

He was stunned. He didn't get what she meant at first, but then his eyes widened.

A dozen more of the humanoid beast appeared suddenly, right in front of his eyes, puffed out from little black clouds and emerged with glittering claws and snapping mouths. Their wings flapped viciously, menacingly. He shuddered.

Then, he heard the cry of a baby.

"Here."

Something soft - and light - was shoved to into his arms. He caught it, surprised, mingled with confusion.

The bundle he was holding was actually a live baby. A girl for one, too.

He looked up, saw that his savior was standing in a pose similar to Cloud's when he was going to fight something, but with a different weapon in her hand - a weapon that looked like a cross between a sword and a gun, also painted silver and gray.

"Don't look."

A kind of blue magic circle appeared beneath her feet. She was muttering something foreign that he couldn't comprehend.

Then, suddenly, she dashed forward.

And he blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

**PART II:**

**" I Couldn't Comprehend Your Actions By Words Of My Own. "**

She observed that the resources they had were _very _little, especially in circumstances like this.

She had seen what this would lead to, but still she _wouldn't _let her precious die because of hunger.

But _then_...

"...Why are you following me?"

She turned around to face the owner of the little footsteps who was tailing along behind her. The boy she had saved from earlier was silently following her, like a puppy, eventhough she had warned that he should not.

He turned his eyes to the ground and didn't answer.

She sighed, running her fingers to her blonde locks.

"Why are you following me?" she repeated her question, more softly now. "It's dangerous around here, you should head home now. Where are your guardians, your parents? You shouldn't be out here alone in situations like this. It's-"

"I'm lost."

She deadpanned. _Lost_? This boy... was _lost_?

"My parents are gone. I live with someone else now."

Something heavier than a brick hit her _hard _on the head; she was speechlessly shocked, surprised. She didn't see this coming. She never did see it.

_Was this my fault, too_?

"B... but..." she heard herself stammer, trying to form words under a mash of mind; she was too surprised to even use proper words now. "Your... your guardians... where are they... I mean..."

He was looking straight to his feet now. She had a feeling that he was going to cry if she didn't say something - or at _least_, let him follow her.

She tried to figure some logic into her mind. The boy was a nuisance, yes, but he fact that monster still roamed around the area disturbed her, too. Already she had seen - and fought - numerous of the same beasts earlier before she came to his rescue; and if she let him stay on his own here, not knowing that he might be lost or something - which he was - he'd be in pieces by the time she return here half an hour later.

At this moment, that was the only option left for her to do. She didn't have another choice.

One more burden for her to take care of.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to gather her courage to tell him.

"Come with me. I'll help you find your guardians."

She had never seen his face so bright and cheerful than now, but then it was the first time she'd ever saw him - and he was smiling from ear to ear now, grinning like an idiot.

"Thanks!"

He followed, sat himself behind her as she get onto the motorcycle, still grinning, the baby now transferred to his arms. Very soon they were speeding on the cleared path of the fallen city's remains, unaware of something trailing behind them as well.

**xxx**

They had never seen so much anxiety in one place. But now they did.

Tifa was making random calls to friends she'd known around the area. Yuffie and Cloud were stil looking. Barret and Vincent have gone out in search of some trails, and only Cid was left to stay with her.

Personally, he'd always been a hectic man himself, but seeing Tifa pacing the floor while biting her thumb in a way that a worried person would do, he began to wonder if it was bothering her too much to even do so.

Denzel's disappearance, however, was much more worrying that he could ever imagine.

"Hello? Cloud?" she picked the phone before it rang the second time. "Have you found him? Where is h- ...Oh. Really? Ahh, okay... Okay... I'll wait for the others to call, then..."

Cid put one arm on the arm and put his chin on the palm, staring at her way with a cocked eyebrow. "Worried much?"

She glared at his direction, offended by his words. "Denzel disappearing from your eyes _doesn't _worry you? Then what if _you _have a daughter, she'd disappear from your sight, too? Don't you have even the _least _bit of that feeling for him?"

He grimaced, wincing. "Of course I do. But, it's just... you're making a _big _deal out of it. Chill, a'ight? Sit down and have some booze."

She glared at him again, wondering if it was _her _bar or _his _bar that he was sitting on as she poured him another glass of beer, and put it in front of him in a not-so-graceful manner. Cid took it, smiling gratefully. She rolled her eyes.

"_I found something_!"

Yuffie suddenly blew through the door, landing with her butt on the floor as she yelled out in pain and jumped onto her feet, repeatedly chanting _'ow, ow, ow' _while holding her bums. In her hands, however, she was holding something that looked like a photograph.

"Yuffie!"

Tifa's exclamation did make the young kunoichi jump, though, and she immediately turned around and put her arms in front of her. "Whoa, _Tifa_! You're _scaring _me! What's with _that _look anyway? Is Denzel home?"

Tifa's look explained everything to her, and her arms fell with a slump as well as her shoulders. "Well, Vincent or Barret or Cloud _will _find him, I suppose, but.."

She turned her gaze to the picture in her hands and showed it to the woman.

"I found this while looking around in the rubble."

Tifa took it. With shaking hands, she took it. She immediately spotted a group of children in a background of the church behind them, Denzel standing at the front row with an unusually big smile on his face. Light filtered from the rooftop shone on them, making them look angelic and clean. Her breath was caught in her throat, nearly choking her.

"I think this is Denzel's... maybe he's out looking for it at-"

Yuffie suddenly let out a dramatic gasp, and Tifa looked up to her, surprised; did she realize something?

"He's out there... out there... _There_!"

Both their hearts sank, their expressions fell; Cid was left wondering what on earth was going on in this two females' minds.

**xxx**

The whole plains were, as always, bare and empty as how he'd often imagine it.

But there was no sighting of anyone, any living soul, anything. Just a scorpion darting out of the dry ground and retreating back into a small hole it made for itself underground.

He sighed, fixed back his goggles. He had waited too long, searched far and wide, hoped for some satisfying results.

He found nothing.

And his disappointments were just as great as his worriness.

Just then, his phone beeped. He took the call. "Tifa?"

' _Cloud_! _The ruins_! _Hurry_... _hurry up_! _He's there_, _he's gone there_! _Hurry_! '

He had never heard Tifa's voice so demanding, so worried, so loud. Worse yet, she seemed as if she was horrified about something. Something terrible.

His stomach churned.

"What... where... who's gone there? Tifa, what's going on?"

He heard some sobbings on the background, some voices consoling someone. Tifa was heard trying to comfort someone - possibly Marlene. He recognized that sobbing voice; a little girl's.

' _Denzel_! _Cloud_, _it's Denzel_! _He's there_! _Edge_... _Edge's ruins_! _Look for him_, _please_! _Find him_! '

He nearly dropped the phone in shock; he hadn't expected that.

Denzel... in the _middle _of _Edge's ruins_? But, _that _place was...

"...I ...I'm on my way."

He put the phone down without hearing her next words ; he sped along the plains and headed straight to where his old home had been, two years before.

**xxx**

"What's your name?"

He hadn't expected that question. Definitely not. He had assumed that this woman in front of him - she wasn't a friend of Cloud; he mentioned his name and she replied she didn't know him - was a cold, mean person. But then suddenly, she asked his name.

"Denzel."

"Your parents gave you that name?"

He nodded, though he didn't know if she could sense him nodding. But she did, and took his silence as a _'yes'_.

"What's yours?"

She tried to hide the shock in her voice. "You can call me Eve."

"Where are you from, Eve?"

"...I'm-"

She nearly replied _Midgar_, but suddenly she felt it unnecessary to tell him. She sealed her lips quietly, not even finishing her sentence.

Personally, and honestly, she didn't even know if she came from there.

"I don't remember."

That was probably the worst lie she'd ever told a child, but she had no choice.

She felt some reaction behind her, a silent nodding, and she immediately ceasing asking.

That was when she felt something rumble under the wheels.

_**TV is on, and I'm talking on the phone.**_

_**PC's left on too, all at the same time.**_

Suddenly, something humongous - gigantic, monstrous - shot out of the ground, breaking the path they were on, creating huge dents here and there. Its tentacles waved about wildly in a savage manner.

Eve immediately halted her motorcycle and stopped to stare; Denzel cowered behind her, closed his eyes and covered them, holding the baby still.

She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it.

"_What_..."

_**No space on the floor, I could open a store.**_

_**It's almost 4, questions are on my mind.**_

"Denzel, _Denzel_! Get off here _now_! Find somewhere to hide! I'll handle this!"

Denzel finally uncovered his eyes, hopped off the vehicle without a second glance, and raced to a hidden spot where he knew he wouldn't be discovered by anything.

But when he turned around, Eve was already being pummeled to a wall by one of the monster's tentacles. She fell to the ground, coughed a few blotches of blood. Her gunblade had dropped close to where she was kneeling now.

"_Eve_!"

He wanted to scream, to shout her name, tell her to run away. But he found his voice stuck in his throat. He couldn't say anything.

He silently sobbed to himself, holding the still sleeping baby close to his chest.

_**If I lose 'em all, what would happen to me?**_

_**Ain't no sleepless night,it ain't goin' to kill me.**_

This was bad. She knew this was bad.

She couldn't handle this on her own. She needed a second resolve.

Run, hide, stay away.

No.

It wouldn't be her. It wasn't _her _way. She's _not _the type to run away and hide at a time like this.

If it _could _relief some of her regrets by standing up and keep fighting for one soul even, she'd be satisfied.

She stood up, feeling a little whoozy, grabbing the gunblade as she staggered to get on her feet.

At that moment, one of the tentacles was making its way down to her spot; only this time, she was more than ready.

_**If I lose 'em all, what would happen to me?**_

_**What's the big deal? I am all I need.**_

He heard it again. Another beating, another _crack_. Another _bang_.

He felt something thick and wet splattered on his cheek. He wiped it off with his hand. He looked at it.

He saw that it was blood.

He quickly looked, saw a figure writhing on the ground in front of him, trying to get up. He saw that blonde hair, some of them matted with wet blood. She knelt with her hands on the ground, and he saw drips of dark red liquid dripping from her lips.

But when she spotted him staring at her with a horrified look, she gave him a soft, comforting smile. She immediately got up again.

He heaved and muttered something her ears couldn't catch.

"Wait there. Don't let anything see you."

She turned around, flashed him another smile, then went straight to the battlefield, the tentacle monster still there, ready to whoop her at any time.

This time, he saw something tattooed on her right elbow - something that looked like the shape of a bird with a single wing, glowing bright blue against her pale skin.

_**Tigers following me, spiders watching me**_

_**As if they're my friends, waiting for me to sleep**_

He covered his face with his hands, unaware of the baby now fully awakened.

His soft sobs earned a giggle or two from the plump lips of the young child, who was waving her fat fists around, trying to grab his nose.

He was shocked.

"You... _you're _awake... _why_..."

He didn't get to finish his words; another _bang _distracted him, and he peeked his head out just an inch to see what was going on.

A silver humanoid twice the size of an adult, with gray runes painted all over its body, was standing in front of an injured Eve, who was panting on the ground and struggling to stand up yet again. The humanoid looked like an oversized human wearing silver armor all over, covering both his body and his head overall, a dark plume waving in the wind from the top of its armored head.

Denzel was gaping with his mouth opened so wide that he didn't realize how long he was staring.

_**Words they throw at me, are bringing me down**_

_**But I'm reaching out toward a higher ground**_

Eve knew she couldn't last long.

She was alone in this, and she needed help. Denzel was too young to fight; the only thing he was able to help was to secure Alicia, the baby, and himself, out of danger's way.

That was why she summoned Minerva.

"Hold it off," she had ordered, between clenched teeth and hisses of pain. "Hold it off, I need to do something."

The ruby atop of its head had glowed, and transformed itself, from the form of a vehicle - the motorcycle - to the form of a tall, humanoid fighter - its Warrior mode.

It was the only thing she could do so she could prepare herself for the next round.

_**If I lose 'em all, what would happen to me?**_

_**Ain't no sleepless night,it ain't goin' to kill me.**_

He was staring so attentively, with so much awe, he didn't realize a presence coming from behind him.

That was, until a hand clamped itself over his mouth, and pulled him back into his hiding place.

"W... what... _what_-"

"_Shh_! You're going to wake her up."

True enough, the baby had gone back to sleep after she received no attention from the boy. She was sucking her thumb now, a serene look gracing her features as she dreamt on.

Denzel turned around to prepare for his supposed-to-be assault, but when he did saw the person who had pulled back into his hiding spot, he nearly screamed.

The other boy's hand clamped around his mouth again.

"_Yes_, it's _me_, _Hope_!

Denzel was relieved at the sight of his friend; his silver hair, blue-green eyes, and a bandana tied around his neck. His orange clothing, black undershirt, cargo pants and boots. He remembered every detailed description of Hope Estheim, his new partner.

Hope gave him a soft smile. "Good to see you again, buddy."

_**If I lose 'em all, what would happen to me?**_

_**What's the big deal? I am all I need.**_

Eve was thrown off her feet, again.

Minerva was trying to hold off as best as it could, but Eve's energy was too limited, that it soon succumbed into its Summoner's lack of strength.

It fell alongside her; but not after it had severed the beast into halves, that it disappeared into sparks of light, and into the branded blue tattoo on her elbow.

The monster fell in chunks at her foot, no longer moving, no longer slashing around with its tentacles. Green liquid spilled all over, though none hit Eve on any parts of her body.

She thought that it was all over. That she could catch her breath now, and rest her limbs for a while; fighting the beasts from before had drained one third of her energy, and she was completely exhausted.

But not when she heard a few faint growls, that she turned her head to look.

More than a dozen of the same humanoid monsters from before - the same ones with bat wings on their backs - was crouching and perching around her, ready to pounce on her at any time.

By this time, she was too tired to respond to any incoming attacks. Added with a tremendous pain she had felt on her hip for the past few months, and her exerted exhaustion, she slowly collasped into a space of semi-conciousness.

...But, what was that noise she was hearing?

It seemed like a mix of explosions, slashes, and a few gunshots. Plus a blur of green and black passing before her wary eyes. But she couldn't comprehend anything out of her tired mind.

She soon fell into mutual darkness, the only comfort to her tired state.

_# Song lyrics used above is from Abingdon Boys School's Fre k $HoW. I do not own the lyrics or the song._


	3. Chapter 3

**PART III:**

**" Sometimes I Think It's Best If I Hadn't Known. "**

She saw a silhouette. A figure that she had known for years.

It was the person that she had been waiting for.

But then, _why_...

"Who..." she breathed, slightly out of words to speak. "...are _you_..."

The black-clad figure turned around upon hearing her voice, slowly turning his body a hundred and eighty degrees so she could see the face clearly.

And she nearly fainted from shock from what she had seen.

"_**No**_!"

"Miss! _Miss_! Are you alright?! ...Tifa. _Tifa_!"

She heard it again. Shuffling of footsteps, something thundering, making its way up.

But she didn't want to wake up. She didn't want to.

That dream was the answer to everything she was looking.

No.

_Don't_.

Don't go!

_Don't_-

"Hey!"

Her body shook. Someone was trying to wake her up. Someone was trying to wake her up from this nightmare.

She opened her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

She was almost breatheless. She was wide-eyed, sweat making her clothes clung to her like a second skin.

For a moment, she still believed she was in a dream.

_That _dream, again.

"Hey. Are you alright?"

She blinked her eyes. Once. Twice. Three times. Four.

She almost couldn't registered everything. Almost not recognizing the face who had saved her from death before.

She blinked her eyes again, her gaze softening.

"..._Yeah_. I'm-"

She could easily lie, for once, knowing that she didn't recognize them and they didn't recognize her. Strangers in the same room, not even knowing each other; yet that same stranger was the one who asked if she was alright, her eyes consoling.

She pursed her lips, deciding what to say in her head.

"...I'm fine."

"...That's one straight lie."

She learned not to be too surprised by this kind of easily-detecting person. After all, for more than half her life, she had lived with, and learned to adapt, _that _kind of people.

"I get that a lot."

"Where are you going?"

She had swung her legs to the side of the bed, not waiting for a second more to think; she remembered her true purpose and she wanted to find and finish that purpose, or lose everything dearest to her, again.

She hesitated at the last minute, though; not telling the generous 'lady of the house' was not her way of doing things. Yet, in the military, courtesy was only for the higher ranks, and no one. She was used to abusive words, torturous treatments, as being one of the few only ladies in the army. She might break some times, but this was one of those moments she just couldn't oblige.

So she replied: "I have something to do. On my own."

"With you being as sick as you are? I won't allow it."

This woman was persistent, she saw it now. But she wouldn't have it her way.

"I have to do it. I can't leave it without doing anything. Let me go."

She started going for the door.

But apparently, the woman wouldn't have it _her _way either.

"You're staying here until you have yourself fixed up or I won't let you go."

It other words, she would stay whether she liked it or not.

Eve nearly slammed her face on the doorknob, infuriated by the woman's persistence.

_Didn't she knew how important this was_? _Her only connection to life_?

The woman was now blocking her path out of the room, as Eve grabbed her gunblade, and strapped it on her thigh.

"If you're smart enough, I advice you to stand out of the way."

"If I say I'm not taking that?"

She fingered her way to the hilt of her weapon, thinking of taking it out. "I'll have to resort to harsher measures."

The woman grimaced. "Is that a way a guest would thank the lady of the house?"

"Lady or not, I don't give a fuck. Get out of my way." She's losing all of her courtesy now; anger, instead, welled inside her, and she was certain she could lose her sanity in a few more moments. "Don't stand in my way like you care for anything."

Her words angered the other woman, however.

"I care for everyone, you badmouth of a bitch," her voice sounded like hissing, her tone sounded threatening. "Unless if you agree to and get yourself healed, _I_ will be the one whom you'll have to face."

"Fine. If it could get you out of my way."

The girl girl behind her was now looking up at them with tearful eyes, grabbing the darker-haired lady's arm. "Tifa!"

_So her name was Tifa_, Eve registered in her mind. A nice name for a nice lady. Unfortunately not nice enough to make her stay and be good.

She unsheathed her gunblade, shape-shifted it to Shoot Mode, and pointed the barrel of her gun to _Tifa_'s face.

"You gave me no choice." She pulled the trigger, and it clicked loudly in the silent room. "Be prepared, _woman_."

She pulled out a pair of gloves, put them on. Got herself into a fighting stance. "I'm in for anything. If it could save you."

' _If it could save you_. '

If it could save you.

Those words shot through her like a bullet through flesh. It hurt her, just as much as the rash on her hip had felt now.

She grimaced, winced, felt the side of her hip with one hand. She touched wet liquid. Brought her fingers to her eyes.

It was blue blood.

She remembered nothing else after that.

**xxx**

"Maria. What are you doing?"

"Oh, this? I'm making this for Robert. He likes _this _kind of stuff when it comes to his birthday presents."

"Robert?... I heard you and him are going at _it _now, if I'm not mistaken."

She had giggled them, looking certainly happy about her new relationship.

"The science staff has been talking about it for some time now. You should be careful."

"Oh, don't worry. We're planning something at the moment. You'll be the _first _one that I'll tell."

"I'm waiting for it."

"Be _patience_, Eve. It's not going to be long... Oh, _see_? I've finished it!"

"Robert'll love it, I suppose!"

"He will! See how it clicks! It's so adorable! I might get a baby chocobo for his second present soon, too."

"...Isn't that pushing it too far for his liking? I don't remember Robert liking cute animals..."

"Don't worry. He likes what I like. I think I should buy him two baby chocobos, you see, and name them with our names..."

She laughed. "Sounds fun."

"...Too bad, though..."

"What?"

"...I can't enjoy life just as much as I want to..."

And she snapped her eyes open. Fully awake now.

Her face was wet and sticky with sweat. The shirt she was wearing had clung to her body like a second skin.

She heaved herself up, putting herself in a sitting position. She was in the same bed, again.

"You're up earlier than I thought."

It was a male's voice, this time, though it sounded more intimidating, more reclusive than Tifa's. She turned her gaze to meet a pair of ocean-blue eyes, shining blue and green in the dim light filtered from the window. His hair, blond and gravity-defying, spiked in every direction possible, though in a graceful manner. The curve of his nose, his face, his brows.

Even his grimace.

She wondered if she had seen him before.

"What..."

"I was told to wait here and guard you, just in case if you're trying to escape again."

She winced. Felt her hip again. She felt no liquid anymore; the rash had been neatly tied and bandaged. She felt a soothing sensation coursing through her body, which greatly surprised her.

"Is this..."

He looked away.

"A temporary cure." His voice sounded muffled, uncertain, flustered. Laced with anger, still. "It's not going to give you complete remedy... but it's all I- _we _have."

She touched her bandaged hip again. Felt some kind of strange feeling swelling inside her. She closed her eyes, winced again. Trying to get rid of it.

"Have we ever met?"

He suddenly turned to her, stared at her with a hard gaze. Crossed his arms over his toned chest. She saw his lips thinning slowly, his brows wrinkling, his muscles flexing slightly. She sensed his anger, as well, and a strange fear coursed through her body, deep into her heart.

She suddenly pictured a man in her mind; a man from two years ago, the same man with the spiky blond tresses, zipped-up tightskin vest, huge sword.

She was reminded of his words before.

' _You think you're fighting this in the name of peace? You think if you achieve this goal, all would be well for everyone? You think about it, didn't you? Well, I'll tell you what. You're wrong. Everything you did was wrong. Everyone who was with you was wrong. Everything in the name of love, peace and hope... That's totally bullshit for people like you_. '

' _You think these people will give up after what you did to their homes? You think they will succumb to your orders like others did? Well, think it over again. One day, you'll realize what you've been doing. One day, you'll see that you've been on the wrong side. One day, you'll see the consequences of your own actions. One day, you'll see... You'll see what will happen_. '

She took one huge, forced gulp. She immediately removed her gaze from his. She didn't feel like looking at him any longer.

Somehow, that same feeling swelled again inside her, bigger and more forceful than before.

She didn't want to feel it. She didn't want to.

"So you've remembered, huh? _Former Sergeant_?"

She closed her eyes and nearly shook her head, fighting back the tears that had welled up in his eyes.

He had been true. All this time, all this while, he had been saying the truth.

And she had been blinded from seeing it.

_It's best if I don't remember._


	4. Chapter 4

**PART IV:**

**" Why Are You So Far Away From Me If You'd Known Me So Much? "**

She was in a field. A meadow full of flowers she had never seen before. But they smelled good. They smelled nice. And she felt her mind being put to serenity because of that smell.

She wondered how in the world she could get to be here. In a spacious place, surrounded only by white light.

But she felt as if she knew this place, if not by heart, or by mind.

_Do you have any regrets_?

She listened to the voice as if it was her own, her inner heart's. She closed her eyes.

_Yes_... _more than anything_.

_Why_?

She clenched her eyes. Trying not to cry. Trying not to sob.

She inhaled, exhaled, as deep as she could. She wished she could stay in that place forever. If it could keep the pain away.

_Because there's something_... _something that I need to do_. _Something to be done_.

_Is that so_?

The voice chuckled. Laughed. She was confused.

_Is it so important to you, that you want to end your own life once you've reached your goal_?

She was muted. Speechless. She didn't think she would go that far.

...Would she, though?

_Who are you_?

The _question_. She had asked _that _question. She didn't know if she'd get a definite answer.

But she needed to know, nevertheless.

Because, if this person felt so important to her, then why...?

_You'll know when the time comes_.

She didn't expect that.

_And I should_... _wait_?

_It's up to you_.

...

_May I ask you something_?

She flinched, waited.

_Yeah_?

_Have I_... _been living a lie, all this time_?

Another chuckle. Another laugh. She was confused, again.

_I can't really say anything about that_.

_Why_?

_Because_...

She held her breath.

..._If you can't really differ from yourself in the past and yourself in the future, can you really tell if you've been living a lie_?

...Was that true? She'd never known. She couldn't really, truly remember anything about her past.

Who was she? What was she doing in this life? Who were her parents? Who were her important people? Where did she come from? What was her true purpose?

She never really knew the answers.

And, if doubt hadn't made its way into her mind, she wouldn't have asked about her _real _name, too. She suspected that the one she had been called for the past sixteen years was a fake name, a name to shroud her own past, and to make certain of her own bleak future.

_...I'm... not sure... but..._

_You've got a future_, the voice had said. _You've got a future ahead of you. You decide on how you'll shape it_.

How?

_You decide_.

It ended there. The conversation simply ended there.

But lots of questions began swarming her mind. As if the previous questions weren't enough to fill her head with.

Most of them even went unanswered when she awoken to the sound of someone shouting in the hallway; someone was screaming something incoherent, but it was apparent that the person was infuriated.

"I told you it wasn't the thing that- _WHAT_?! I KNOW _ALL _THIS WHILE THAT _YOU'VE _BEEN _TELLING _ME THE _SAME _THING, BUT TO GET THE _WRONG _INFORMATION-"

"_Barret_! Please, she's sleeping in _that _room! Low down your voice..."

"-I'M NOT TAKING _THAT _SHIT! YOU KNOW I'M NOT UP FOR _THAT _SHIT! AND Y'KNOW WHAT, I'M DONE DOIN' BUSINESS WITH YA! YOU AND YOUR FUCKED UP FART ASS CAN GO AND SCREW YOURSELVES IN HELL, I WON'T GIVE A FUCK ANYMORE! _GOODBYE_!"

"_Barret_!"

Eve mumbled something with her eyes closed, tossing her head slowly from side to side, wondering how on earth would anyone be so ignorant.

She slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was the door of the bedroom being opened ajar. A head was peeking through the crack; and she was staring at it for quite some time before she realized who it was.

"Hey," her voice sounded croaked, hoarse. "Come in; I'm wide awake now."

The boy carefully slipped into the room, closed the door behind him, finally silencing the air around her. He took a few steps to her bedside and sat on a stool next to her.

"How're you?"

He nodded, though she sensed that his smile was forced. Something was up in his mind and it was bothering him. It bothered her, too, seeing him like that.

She gave him a soft smile, and he cast his gaze to the floor below.

"Something wrong?"

He smiled again, shook his head. Then cast his gaze to the floor again.

She smiled, reached out a hand to touch his shoulder. He flinched, but didn't respond.

"You can tell me anything, you know. _Anything_."

He didn't lift his gaze from the floor. Not for quite some time.

"I heard from Marlene... you tried to fight with Tifa yesterday."

Her smile faded. Her hand dropped from his shoulder.

"What..."

"...I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here for long. Tifa told me to say thanks to you because you saved me."

"..."

She immediately regretted her actions yesterday. If only she had patience enough to hold back...

"So... thank you, Miss, for saving my life."

She didn't know what to say. In fact, she didn't really know what to say.

"Y... yeah... It's..."

What? What was she supposed to say? The air around her suddenly felt so thick, so tensed, that she felt herself choking, gasping for some fresh air.

_What was this feeling_?

"M... Miss Eve?"

She nearly didn't hear his words when her mind was too swarmed with thoughts. "Y-yes?"

His cheeks had burned bright pink now, and she could see it visibly under the filtered light from the window.

"If... if you feel up to it..." she sensed the hesitation in his tone; was it something important? "Can... can you join us for dinner tonight? Tifa... made us some special soup and... well, I just thought if you could... I mean, if you wanted to join us, that is... um..."

Instantly, she felt everything being swiped out of her mind. Her head felt blank, her brain suddenly turned into a mush of emotions that she couldn't comprehend. She stared at his with almost blank eyes, silenced for a moment.

Then, her mouth moved on its own. And she never knew how.

"O... of course! I will... join you for dinner tonight... if... you know... if it's good..."

He suddenly lifted his eyes from the floor, and gave her the widest smile she had ever seen. She was confused as to what she had said, but she knew she heard herself, her own voice saying it.

"I'll be waiting!"

He dashed out of the room before she could say anything.

And she nearly palmed herself on the face.

_What on earth_...

**xxx**

"...What's going on up there?"

Lightning had just returned from some inspections around town, and Vanille came back from a florist - with a disgruntled Fang - saying new flowers needed to be delivered to a town nearby. Cloud quickly got up, headed straight for the front door, and disappeared moments later, followed by the observing eyes of Hope and Marlene. They were soon distracted by Denzel hopping down from upstairs, but they didn't question as to why he was all smiles.

They were disturbed by the appearance of Barret, who seemed like he was fuming from some important matter, and Tifa, who seemed like she had tried to calm him down; they could hear his voice from yards away and she couldn't silence him at all.

"What the hell's going on?" Fang hissed, wiping an invisible pollen that she had sensed landed on her shoulder prior to visiting the florist with Vanille. "I could hear you yellin' even from the florist on the other side of town."

Barret spat to the floor, pulled a stool over and sat on it. "We're gonna miss the oil tank."

Everybody stared at him as if he had just said something incredulous, and this fumed him even more. "I'm telling you guys that we're losing the oil business! That fart ass is going to make me pay for the damage and it's not even my fault!"

"...Well, if you hadn't gone on a rampage and tried to kill the monsters on your own." Lightning mused, to everyone's surprise, as she took Tifa's offer of a glass of beer. "So much as trying to become a hero as you are. How much do they charge you?"

Barret spat to the floor again, earning a disapproving glare from Tifa. "Ten times the price of this place if we could ever sell it."

Yuffie, who was perching at the end of the counter and was laughing to some joke made by Sazh, nearly fell from her seat in shock.

"That's _too _much! _Way _going overboard, buddy!"

He glared at her. "I _told _you it's not even _my _fault! Why won't you- _AH_! Forget it!"

He nearly spat to the ground again, before he caught sight of Tifa's look, and decided it against his own.

"The gold mine in the Great Canyon is taken, too," Snow spoke up, showing himself in the crowd, Serah by his side cuddling a squirming Cait Sith, and Red XIII licking his tail at her feet. "But there's one in the Northern Valley, though it's not a big one. What'd you say we go check it out and make sure it's safe?"

"As long as there's food and money supply for everyone," Sazh replied before anyone else. "I'm in for anything. Oh, by the way, have you seen Dajh?"

Before anyone else could reply, the door suddenly bursted open, and in came a certain young, spiky redhead, with a balded glasses-guy at his side. They took their seats on adjacent stools and faced the group; silence had suddenly consumed them and suddenly, they were paying attention to the two Turks. One of them seemed like he was hunched over by something, while the other was wiping some red liquid off his suit.

Reno cleared his throat loudly, then pulled something - or someone - out of his behind. "Just come out and show them, kid. There's nothing wrong to it."

A little head with the same afro hair as his father suddenly popped out, clutching something in his little hands. He saw his father, dashed out from Reno's behind, and hugged his parent on the thigh. Sazh let out a surprised, happy yelp, raised his son to his eye level by the armpits, but then his excited expression turned to one of horror.

"What... this can't be..."

Something bluish was apparent on the left side of Dajh's cheek, together with a few rashes under his chin and lips; something blue dripped out from a small gash on his underlip, and he was on the verge of crying himself.

Dajh was infected by Geostigma, something that Sazh had been dreading.

By now, everybody was standing up, and inspecting Dajh's infected face more clearly. Dajh was starting to cry now, and Vanille immediately went forward to calm him, pulling him into her arms and cooing him despite of his infection.

Sazh was nearly beside himself with anger, grief, sadness... everything. From anyone's observance, he could lose his mind very quickly because of his son.

"Who..." he muttered, mostly to himself than to anyone. "...in _hell_... would do this... to _my _Dajh?!"

Lightning immediately began to unstrap her gunblade. "Calm yourself, Katzroy."

Rude stepped forward, and put one gloved hand on Sazh's shoulder. "We understand your feelings, buddy. But there's nothing we could do. She's out there, watching us."

Tifa's ears perked up immediately. "_Diabora_? You don't mean-"

"Yeah," Reno lazily sipped a glass of beer offered to him by Tifa earlier. "She was out there, disguised. She's gone now, though. She gave candy to some children out there and suddenly, the children got Geostigma. I never know how she did that."

"She tried to kidnap some children," Rude went on. "But Tseng, Elena, Reno and I, we saw her first. We did tried to stop her, but... Dajh is all that we could save."

"Diabora? Out in the open?" Lightning couldn't believe her ears, either; she seemed surprised about it. "But, to expose herself out in the sunlight... She must've planned something..."

"Yeah, well," Reno finished the last gulp of his beer and put the glass on the counter, before he pulled out a recorder, and pushed on the Play button. "I don't know what did she meant by this, but you gotta hear it; I know this would be important to you."

He pushed on the Play button again; for a few seconds, there was nothing but the sound of static, and someone shouting in the background, as well as a few gunshots and some screams. Then, suddenly, there were some movements, as well as someone grunting in the background.

Then, they heard it.

**xxx**

She heard the commotion downstairs, but she didn't dare peek her head outside to see what was happening.

She stepped out of the bathroom, relieved that she had finally taken a _real _shower for the first time in days. She only draped herself in a towel, and had let loose her hair, so it trailed behind her in a wet trail. A simple white shirt, and a pair of baggy shorts was left on the chair next to her bed; must be the woman, Tifa's doing, she thought.

Nonetheless, she put them on, happy that at least there were some clean clothes left for her.

But, suddenly, her ears caught some noises downstairs. Noises that began to escalate to a pitch where anyone from the other road could hear it. And she heard a name being mentioned among the noises, a name that she was too familiar to pass as unrecognizeable.

"-Sazh! I know it's-"

"FUCK OFF! _FUCK OFF_! LET ME AT HER!_ LET ME AT HER_!"

"He's losing control... _Lightning_!"

"_Sazh_!"

"It's that _woman's _fault! Her fault! _Her fault_!"

"-Diabora, _I know_! But, we can't-"

"Somebody _hold _him-"

...Diabora?

They _knew _Diabora?

Diabora, her main target since two years ago?

No.

No.

It couldn't be... this _couldn't _be...

She immediately dashed out, and climbed down the stairs, not caring about anything anymore.

"Diabora?"

The area immediately went silent.


End file.
